Borchert, IngoGootiiz, BatshurMattoo, Aaditya2012-06-292012-06-292012-06https://hdl.handle.net/10986/9314Surprisingly little is known about policies that affect international trade in services. Previous analyses have focused on policy commitments made by countries in international agreements but these commitments do not in many cases reflect actual policy. This paper describes a new initiative to collect comparable information on services trade policies for 103 countries, across a range of service sectors and the relevant modes of service delivery. The resultant database reveals interesting patterns in policy. Across regions, some of the fastest growing countries in Asia and the oil-rich Gulf states have the most restrictive policies in services, whereas some of the poorest countries are remarkably open. Across sectors, professional and transportation services are among the most protected in both industrial and developing countries, while retail, telecommunications and even finance tend to be more open. An illustrative set of results suggests that trade policies matter for investment flows and access to services. In particular, restrictions on foreign acquisitions, discrimination in licensing, restrictions on the repatriation of earnings and lack of legal recourse all have a significant and sizable negative effect, reducing the expected value of sectoral foreign investment by $2.2 billion over a 7-year period, compared with "open" policy regimes. In terms of access to services, credit as a share of gross domestic product is on average 3.3 percentage points lower in countries with major restrictions on the establishment of foreign banks as compared with those that only impose operational restrictions.en-USCC BY 3.0 IGOACCOUNTABILITYACCOUNTINGACCOUNTING SERVICESADVERSE EFFECTSAIRAIR PASSENGERAIR SERVICESALTERNATIVE MODESASSETSAUDITINGAUTOMOBILEAUTOMOBILE INSURANCEAUXILIARY SERVICESBANK BRANCHESBANK LENDINGBANK LOANSBANKING SECTORBANKING SERVICESBANKING SYSTEMBANKSBARRIERBRANCH BANKINGBRANCH OFFICECAPITAL ADEQUACYCAPITAL INFLOWSCAPITAL MOBILITYCARRIERSCARSCENTRAL BANKCOMMERCIAL PRESENCECONFIDENCECONSTRUCTION SERVICESCONSUMPTION ABROADCOUNTRY FIXED EFFECTSCOUNTRY-LEVEL INDICATORSCROSS-BORDER DELIVERYCROSS-BORDER SUPPLYCROSS-BORDER TRADEDEPOSITDEPOSITSDEVELOPING COUNTRIESDISCRETIONDOMESTIC PROVIDERSDOMESTIC REGULATIONSDRIVINGECONOMIC PERFORMANCEEMPLOYMENTENTRY RESTRICTIONSEQUITY FLOWSEXPORT GROWTHEXTERNALITIESFINANCIAL INSTITUTIONFINANCIAL INSTITUTIONSFINANCIAL SERVICESFOREIGN BANKFOREIGN BANKSFOREIGN COMPANIESFOREIGN COMPETITIONFOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENTFOREIGN ENTRYFOREIGN EQUITYFOREIGN EQUITY PARTICIPATIONFOREIGN EXCHANGEFOREIGN FIRMSFOREIGN INVESTMENTFOREIGN INVESTMENTSFOREIGN INVESTORSFOREIGN MARKETSFOREIGN OWNERSHIPFOREIGN PARTICIPATIONFOREIGN PROFESSIONALSFOREIGN PROVIDERSFOREIGN SERVICE PROVIDERSFOREIGN SERVICESFOREIGN SUPPLIERFOREIGN SUPPLIERSFREIGHTFREIGHT SECTORGOVERNMENT OFFICIALSGROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCTHOME COUNTRYIMPORTANCE OF SERVICESINCOMEINCOME GROUPSINCREMENTAL BENEFITSINDUSTRIAL COUNTRIESINFORMATION TECHNOLOGYINITIATIVEINSURANCE SERVICESINSURERINTERNATIONAL LAWINTERNATIONAL TRADEINTERNATIONAL TRADE IN SERVICESINVESTIGATIONINVESTMENT FLOWISLAMIC BANKINGJOINT VENTUREJUSTICELABOR MARKETLAWSLAWYERSLIBERALIZATIONLICENSING PROCESSLIFE INSURANCELOCAL LAWMARKET ACCESSMARKET ENTRYMARKET REGULATIONMARKET SHAREMARKET STRUCTUREMARKET STRUCTURESMFNMOBILITYMODES OF SUPPLYMONOPOLIESMOVEMENT OF NATURAL PERSONSNATIONAL TREATMENTNON-DISCRIMINATORY MEASURESOUTPUTOUTSOURCINGPARTICULAR COUNTRYPASSENGER SERVICESPOPULATION DENSITYPORT SERVICESPORTFOLIOPREFERENTIALPREFERENTIAL ARRANGEMENTSPRIVATE FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONSPRO-COMPETITIVE REGULATIONPRODUCTIVITYPROFESSIONAL SERVICESPROPERTY OWNERSHIPPROVISION OF SERVICESPUBLIC MONOPOLIESQUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTSRAILRAIL FREIGHTRAIL TRACKRAILWAYRAPID DEVELOPMENTREGULATORREGULATORSREGULATORY AUTHORITYREGULATORY ENVIRONMENTREGULATORY REQUIREMENTSREINSURANCERETAIL BANKINGROADROUTESERVICE DELIVERYSERVICE SECTORSERVICE SECTORSSERVICE SUPPLIERSSERVICES AGREEMENTSSERVICES SECTORSERVICES SECTORSSERVICES SUPPLIERSSERVICES TRADESUBSIDIARIESSUBSIDIARYTAXTRADE FLOWTRADE FLOWSTRADE RESTRICTIONSTRAFFICTRANSPARENCYTRANSPORTTRANSPORT SECTORTRANSPORTATIONTRANSPORTATION SERVICESTRUETYPES OF INSTRUMENTSVOLATILITYWORLD DEVELOPMENT INDICATORSWORLD TRADEWTOWorld Bank10.1596/1813-9450-6109